Volunteers Sought for Connecticut River Water Sample Effort

Pomfret — Volunteers are needed to help with a one-day water quality monitoring program in the Twin States’ portion of the Connecticut River watershed.

The “sample-palooza” will include nutrient monitoring at about 60 locations in the Connecticut River watershed on the same day.

A dry, low-waterflow day is needed for the event, and organizers are aiming for one of the following dates: July 30, July 31, Aug. 6 or Aug. 7.

Sampling will take place in Lebanon, from the railroad bridge that crosses the Connecticut River downstream of the White River; in Cornish, from the Route 12A bridge over Blow-Me-Down Brook; and from two bridges in Haverhill — the Route 302 bridge over the Connecticut River and the Benton Road bridge over Clark Brook.

The other sampling sites in New Hampshire are in Dalton, Lancaster, Jefferson, Northumberland, Bethlehem and Bath.

Volunteers receive a brief training, either by telephone or in person; collect one or more samples on the day of the event; and drive the samples to a collection site.

The work is part of an effort to help Vermont and New Hampshire better characterize nutrient loading from the watershed and identify effective, economical reduction strategies, organizers said in a recent news release.

For more information, contact Andrea Donlon, a river steward with the Connecticut River Watershed Council, at adonlon@ctriver.org, 413-772-2020, ext. 205, or 15 Bank Row, Greenfield, Mass. 01301.